Catalog
See full images - free registration
Continue with Google - no registration!
or register with email
Why register? Just to keep bots out of our catalog. Your email stays private - we will never share it or send you anything uninvited. We guarantee you that!
Gold Plated Stater - Cunobelin Cunobelinus Linear Contemporary Counterfeit
| Issuer | Catuvellauni and Trinovantes tribes (Celtic Britain) |
|---|---|
| Year | 10-20 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Stater (1) |
| Currency | Log in to see details |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Weight | Log in to see details |
| Diameter | Log in to see details |
| Thickness | Log in to see details |
| Shape | Log in to see details |
| Technique | Log in to see details |
| Orientation | Log in to see details |
| Engraver(s) | Log in to see details |
| In circulation to | Log in to see details |
| Reference(s) | Log in to see details |
| Obverse description | Stylised corn ear motif rendered in the Celtic linear tradition, featuring a central stalk with lateral branches arranged symmetrically across the field. The abbreviated legend CA to the left and M(V) to the right flanks the central device, the lettering executed in the characteristic debased script of Catuvellaunian coinage. Pellets or cross ornaments may appear in the field as ancillary decorative elements. The overall design reflects the degenerate stylisation typical of contemporary imitations of Cunobelin's official issues, with shallower relief and cruder die-work than the prototype. |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Log in to see details |
| Obverse lettering | CA-M(V) |
| Reverse description | Log in to see details |
| Reverse script | Log in to see details |
| Reverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Edge | Log in to see details |
| Mint | Log in to see details |
| Mintage | Log in to see details |
| Additional information |
Contemporary counterfeits of Cunobelini staters are not merely opportunistic forgeries — they reflect a functioning parallel economy operating just beneath the official tribal coinage system. Plating a bronze core with gold required meaningful technical skill, and the effort suggests these circulated alongside genuine issues without immediate detection. Cunobelin ruled the Catuvellauni from roughly 10 AD until shortly before the Claudian invasion of 43 AD, and his prolific coinage output paradoxically created the conditions for imitation: wide circulation meant examiners grew complacent.
The "linear" style designation places this among the later, more schematized productions from his mint at Camulodunum — modern Colchester.